Mob kills couple accused of witchcraft

Durban - A mob set alight and killed an elderly couple who were accused of practising witchcraft in Lindelani near Ntuzuma, KwaZulu-Natal police said on Thursday.

"We were called in at 01:00 on Wednesday because a house was burning," Captain Thulani Zwane said.

He said they found Elsa Dubazane, 60, dead in her bedroom and her husband Rafael Dubazane, 66, dead on the road.

Police were investigating a case of murder. No arrests had been made.

The Mercury reported that the couple were attacked and assaulted last Friday by a mob which accused them of killing their granddaughter and burying her in the yard.

"Their granddaughter died at Mahatma Gandhi Hospital on January 4. She had overdosed on some pills because she was having family problems," Zwane said.

He said police were waiting for the results of a post-mortem as there were allegations that Zakude Shozi, 16, had been beaten by either her grandmother or her father.

Comments

Werner - 2012-01-12 08:52

Uncivilised barbarians!

ryno.rousseau - 2012-01-12 09:27

Stupid is as stupid does.
Frankly, this barbarism isn't even shocking anymore.

tbooze - 2012-01-12 09:30

if they were really witches ,that would mean they had special powers, how come they didn't fly or disappear when they were attacked

infijar.ken - 2012-01-12 13:48

Amazing, yesterday it was all "string him up by his balls" etc. Today, for people who become that kind of vigilante, they are Barbarians, etc.!
Do you not see why the death penalty is abhorred. The majority who contribute here would have every suspect strung up or necklaced on even the flimsiest of charges. Let the Law take its course!

busi.carol - 2012-01-12 08:59

Is there anything new under the sun.

Jaco - 2012-01-12 09:02

Seriously people, get down from the trees.

Deon - 2012-01-12 09:03

This is sad, arrest the mob.

trix.duvenage - 2012-01-12 19:15

Sad or not.... just watch and see. NOTHING will come from this. which shows.... in the end culture in fact overrules the law in this country and this fact becomes more and more relevant over the years. Think of all the BIG, SERIOUS cases where everything in the end basically gets 'covered up' in one way or the other.... Only certain people gets away with murder....the rest should be 'hung by their balls' THAT is sad brother.... Only some people can get sick and be released.... the rest must pay the price in full....

ntsiki.mdeni - 2012-01-12 09:04

This is just cruel... Old defenseless people being for such stupidity!! Makes my blood boil.

carpejugulim - 2012-01-12 09:35

No respect for the elderly.

Kaizer - 2012-01-12 10:24

Well, according to the babbon that runs this country, there werent any problems with old people when the natives took care of things before the christians came to africa. So , he then condones the leaving behind of older people to die and who cannot contribute to the tribe. All in a days "work"

John - 2012-01-12 09:09

What gets me is that these idiots have the same vote as me. Also the old couple could not have been very good witches. If they had really been witches, surely they would have been able to stop this mob from killing them.

Werner - 2012-01-12 09:15

That's the flaw with democracy. You will always be at the mercy of the idiot masses, because lets face it, no person with relative intelligence will have more children than they can afford, and thus the masses can be manipulated so easily eg by getting a free t-shirt

Phoenix - 2012-01-12 09:43

...and the flaw with non-democraxy? You are at the mercy of an idiotic few

pberchu - 2012-01-12 09:10

People target the old & helpless to vent their frustrations. Yet when it comes to really important issues nobody takes a stand.

TheWatcher - 2012-01-12 09:14

Mob justice gone bad...

Beetroot - 2012-01-12 09:14

and the jungle drums beat on....

Bob - 2012-01-12 09:16

You can’t tell me these people are civilised and rational...!

Max - 2012-01-12 09:20

Horses for courses...maybe that the mob knows what is required in their community.

CarlS - 2012-01-12 09:31

Ai...

Bryan - 2012-01-12 09:39

All I can do is shake my head in disbelief that these barbaric mongrels have a vote!! I suppose they also believe that Juliaas is a God..Go figure.

Vegi - 2012-01-12 09:44

Anyone who claims to be bewitched is very dumb and has no reason to live. The perpetrators of this cruelty should be subjected to the most horrible punishment. Killing elderly people for no reason at all other than the stupidity of the killer. These killers are deserving candidates for mob justice.

Vegi - 2012-01-12 09:50

Idiots always blame others for their so called misfortunes, most of which are a result of their own stupidity. If they fell seek because of failing to take good care of themselves they blame elderly people. If their children die because of the parent's foolishness they blame the elderly people. If someone dies due to an unavoidable reason, they blame the defenceless elderly people.
Government should make this a priority crime, even deserving of special legislation to make it more heinous and serious to kill someone on spurrious allegations of witchcraft. The allegation itself should be followed by a very serious punishment.

Ronald - 2012-01-12 10:35

It also does not help when our president tells the voters that the ancestors will be angry if they do not vote ANC.

Thoka - 2012-01-12 09:58

send Kotze to Lindelani(ntuzuma)they dont play games.

aspruyt - 2012-01-12 10:01

Still stuck in the dark ages.

Michael - 2012-01-12 10:16

Not stuck, happily frolicking in it. But they will still want the rolex, iphone and bmw. Only when it comes to matters that suit them, do they revert back to their roots

GoldenTeacher - 2012-01-12 10:06

Anyone a lawyer out there? How do you bring a mob to justice? Just like the stampede at UJ. If people act in groups like this why do they just seem to get away with murder?

Lionel - 2012-01-12 11:17

You need evidence to implicate them; for example, eye witnesses.
It is possible to prosecute all those implicated, if you can establish a common purpose to murder - ironically that case law was developed during the days of necklacing - thus the guy at the back who shouts "kill" is just as liable as the guy who lights the match. The case of State V Sefatsa is the leading one on this.

GoldenTeacher - 2012-01-12 14:54

Thanks Lionel. That's very interesting. I think these kinds of things need to be understood and dealt with in terms of the dictates of the law. It's unjust to let these people go without charges.
I hope the authorities share my view, lest we let the whims of mob mentalities slip beyond the reach of justice.

Cameronl - 2012-01-12 10:14

when are these neandrethals (probably the one and very same morons who believe sleeping with a virgin will cure them of aids) going to realise the stupidity of their acts???
Come on man, catch a wake you moronic retards we live in modern times, if the rest of the world were to read of this they`d probably laugh at this pathetic act of idiocy

Truth24 - 2012-01-12 10:15

You can come out now! Promise! The Dark Ages are over!

Roy - 2012-01-12 10:18

And zuma speaks negative about the missionaries that came to Africa to liberate its people from these barbaric practices. How can these individuals be equal to rest of us, the sad thing is some of them is in government, still talking about slitting cows throats in public to give thanks to spirits, come now gosh where the hell are they streering this country to? To Hell I'm sure.

Lionel - 2012-01-12 11:19

Missionaries were cool! If you examine their history, you would see that in Angola, for example, they would bless the slaves being shipped off to Brazil. I could tell you more, but that gives you an idea of what I really think of these so-called messengers of christ.

Roy - 2012-01-12 14:35

I'm not sure what you trying to imply but I feel u need to read the article, just a thought missionaries brought hope to many a canabol but clearly I see u and your forefathers fell thought the cracks.

lmarima - 2012-01-12 10:21

KZN are lucky they know how to spot a witch--can this be true? The problem in south Africa is that people don't appreciate the fact that some can grow old and as you grow you appearance changes, as your appearance changes--in most cases you become darker, the people perceive you as a witch. Possibly now innocent people have died for nothing due to barbaric acts of people who just want to pass the blame unnecessarily.

Willem - 2012-01-12 10:44

4oo years ago alleged "witches" were burnt at the stake throughout Europe after having been "examined" by priests and "doctors" and having been found guilty of consorting with the devil - often having confessed this after some more "examination". But, fortunately, these events are long ago and and the superstition is no longer with us - so what does this tell us of our fellow Africans? I leave it to you.

Lionel - 2012-01-12 11:23

The so-called modernised types still have weird superstitions like about some dude who rose from the dead, and is coming back to judge us.
And there are also horoscopes...
Let's not forget so-called fundamentalist xtians who kill people at abortion clinics...

Lionel - 2012-01-12 11:13

Until all religion and other superstitious nonsense is eradicated, we will continue with this sort of stuff from the dark ages.

Strange how samgomas are not killed for the very craft these pilgrims were murdered for! Pathetic!

nikkiduku - 2012-01-12 11:53

can't we all jst get along?

Kraken - 2012-01-12 13:52

Just another day in Africa

Chantelle - 2012-01-12 14:28

why is it, that people will look to anything for blame? these poor people were probably accused of bewitching someone - someone who was to ashamed to take responsibility for their actions! why do people blame their human urges on WITCHCRAFT. ignorance is clearly bliss!!!

Moi - 2012-01-13 06:47

@Adam - did you feel embarrassed about your comments and proceed to delete all of them or did the admins do it for you???